diff --git a/app/test/test_eal_flags.c b/app/test/test_eal_flags.c
index d2b91e20750e..57637728d811 100644
--- a/app/test/test_eal_flags.c
+++ b/app/test/test_eal_flags.c
@@ -1055,6 +1055,10 @@ test_misc_flags(void)
 	const char * const argv22[] = {prgname, prefix, mp_flag,
 				       "--huge-worker-stack=512"};
 
+	/* Try running with --log-timestamp */
+	const char * const argv23[] = {prgname, prefix, mp_flag,
+				       "--log-timestamp" };
+
 	/* run all tests also applicable to FreeBSD first */
 
 	if (launch_proc(argv0) == 0) {
@@ -1162,6 +1166,11 @@ test_misc_flags(void)
 		printf("Error - process did not run ok with --huge-worker-stack=size parameter\n");
 		goto fail;
 	}
+	if (launch_proc(argv23) != 0) {
+		printf("Error - process did not run ok with --log-timestamp parameter\n");
+		goto fail;
+	}
+
 
 	rmdir(hugepath_dir3);
 	rmdir(hugepath_dir2);
diff --git a/doc/guides/freebsd_gsg/freebsd_eal_parameters.rst b/doc/guides/freebsd_gsg/freebsd_eal_parameters.rst
index 9270d9fa3bfc..99cff10e963c 100644
--- a/doc/guides/freebsd_gsg/freebsd_eal_parameters.rst
+++ b/doc/guides/freebsd_gsg/freebsd_eal_parameters.rst
@@ -45,3 +45,8 @@ Other options
         local5
         local6
         local7
+
+*   ``--log-timestamp``
+
+    Add a timestamp of seconds and microseconds to each log message
+    written to standard output.
diff --git a/doc/guides/linux_gsg/linux_eal_parameters.rst b/doc/guides/linux_gsg/linux_eal_parameters.rst
index ea8f38139119..719ca6851625 100644
--- a/doc/guides/linux_gsg/linux_eal_parameters.rst
+++ b/doc/guides/linux_gsg/linux_eal_parameters.rst
@@ -135,3 +135,8 @@ Other options
         local5
         local6
         local7
+
+*   ``--log-timestamp``
+
+    Add a timestamp of seconds and microseconds to each log message
+    written to standard output.
diff --git a/lib/eal/common/eal_common_options.c b/lib/eal/common/eal_common_options.c
index 005da4d12001..67fe6efb4526 100644
--- a/lib/eal/common/eal_common_options.c
+++ b/lib/eal/common/eal_common_options.c
@@ -76,6 +76,7 @@ eal_long_options[] = {
 	{OPT_IOVA_MODE,	        1, NULL, OPT_IOVA_MODE_NUM        },
 	{OPT_LCORES,            1, NULL, OPT_LCORES_NUM           },
 	{OPT_LOG_LEVEL,         1, NULL, OPT_LOG_LEVEL_NUM        },
+	{OPT_LOG_TIMESTAMP,     0, NULL, OPT_LOG_TIMESTAMP_NUM    },
 	{OPT_TRACE,             1, NULL, OPT_TRACE_NUM            },
 	{OPT_TRACE_DIR,         1, NULL, OPT_TRACE_DIR_NUM        },
 	{OPT_TRACE_BUF_SIZE,    1, NULL, OPT_TRACE_BUF_SIZE_NUM   },
@@ -1835,6 +1836,10 @@ eal_parse_common_option(int opt, const char *optarg,
 	}
 
 #ifndef RTE_EXEC_ENV_WINDOWS
+	case OPT_LOG_TIMESTAMP_NUM:
+		conf->log_timestamp = 1;
+		break;
+
 	case OPT_TRACE_NUM: {
 		if (eal_trace_args_save(optarg) < 0) {
 			RTE_LOG(ERR, EAL, "invalid parameters for --"
@@ -2194,6 +2199,7 @@ eal_common_usage(void)
 	       "  --"OPT_PROC_TYPE"         Type of this process (primary|secondary|auto)\n"
 #ifndef RTE_EXEC_ENV_WINDOWS
 	       "  --"OPT_SYSLOG"=<facility> Set syslog facility\n"
+	       "  --"OPT_LOG_TIMESTAMP"     Timestamp log output\n"
 #endif
 	       "  --"OPT_LOG_LEVEL"=<level> Set global log level\n"
 	       "  --"OPT_LOG_LEVEL"=<type-match>:<level>\n"
diff --git a/lib/eal/common/eal_internal_cfg.h b/lib/eal/common/eal_internal_cfg.h
index 167ec501fa79..ca502d5dd365 100644
--- a/lib/eal/common/eal_internal_cfg.h
+++ b/lib/eal/common/eal_internal_cfg.h
@@ -84,7 +84,10 @@ struct internal_config {
 	/**< true if storing all pages within single files (per-page-size,
 	 * per-node) non-legacy mode only.
 	 */
+	uint8_t log_timestamp;          /**< add timestamp to console output */
+	struct timespec log_start_time; /**< monotonic clock when started */
 	volatile int syslog_facility;	  /**< facility passed to openlog() */
+
 	/** default interrupt mode for VFIO */
 	volatile enum rte_intr_mode vfio_intr_mode;
 	/** the shared VF token for VFIO-PCI bound PF and VFs devices */
diff --git a/lib/eal/common/eal_options.h b/lib/eal/common/eal_options.h
index 3cc9cb641284..cc9723868e3c 100644
--- a/lib/eal/common/eal_options.h
+++ b/lib/eal/common/eal_options.h
@@ -35,6 +35,8 @@ enum {
 	OPT_LCORES_NUM,
 #define OPT_LOG_LEVEL         "log-level"
 	OPT_LOG_LEVEL_NUM,
+#define OPT_LOG_TIMESTAMP     "log-timestamp"
+	OPT_LOG_TIMESTAMP_NUM,
 #define OPT_TRACE             "trace"
 	OPT_TRACE_NUM,
 #define OPT_TRACE_DIR         "trace-dir"
diff --git a/lib/eal/unix/eal_log.c b/lib/eal/unix/eal_log.c
index e66bcc68d07f..1ee94a5ee1e6 100644
--- a/lib/eal/unix/eal_log.c
+++ b/lib/eal/unix/eal_log.c
@@ -4,7 +4,10 @@
 
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <sys/types.h>
+#include <sys/uio.h>
 #include <syslog.h>
+#include <time.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
 
 #include <rte_log.h>
 
@@ -16,13 +19,38 @@
  * default log function
  */
 static ssize_t
-console_log_write(__rte_unused void *c, const char *buf, size_t size)
+console_log_write(void *c, const char *buf, size_t size)
 {
+	const struct internal_config *internal_conf = c;
 	ssize_t ret;
 
-	/* write on stderr */
-	ret = fwrite(buf, 1, size, stderr);
-	fflush(stderr);
+	/* add optional timestamp for stderr */
+	if (internal_conf->log_timestamp) {
+		struct iovec iov[2];
+		struct timespec ts;
+		char tbuf[64];
+
+		/* format up monotonic timestamp */
+		clock_gettime(CLOCK_MONOTONIC, &ts);
+		ts.tv_sec -= internal_conf->log_start_time.tv_sec;
+		ts.tv_nsec -= internal_conf->log_start_time.tv_nsec;
+		if (ts.tv_nsec < 0) {
+			--ts.tv_sec;
+			ts.tv_nsec += 1000000000ul;
+		}
+
+		/* use writev to put timestamp and buf in single operation */
+		iov[0].iov_base = tbuf;
+		iov[0].iov_len  = snprintf(tbuf, sizeof(tbuf), "[%8lu.%06lu] ",
+					   ts.tv_sec, ts.tv_nsec / 1000u);
+
+		/* casts are to unconstify the buf */
+		iov[1].iov_base = (void *)(uintptr_t)buf;
+		iov[1].iov_len = size;
+		ret = writev(STDERR_FILENO, iov, 2);
+	} else {
+		ret = write(STDERR_FILENO, buf, size);
+	}
 
 	/* Syslog error levels are from 0 to 7, so subtract 1 to convert */
 	syslog(rte_log_cur_msg_loglevel() - 1, "%.*s", (int)size, buf);
@@ -58,13 +86,20 @@ static cookie_io_functions_t console_log_func = {
 int
 eal_log_init(const char *id, int facility)
 {
+	struct internal_config *internal_conf = eal_get_internal_configuration();
 	FILE *log_stream;
 
 	/* has user has already setup a log stream */
 	if (eal_log_get_default())
 		return 0;
 
-	log_stream = fopencookie(NULL, "w+", console_log_func);
+	if (internal_conf->process_type == RTE_PROC_PRIMARY &&
+	    internal_conf->log_timestamp) {
+		if (clock_gettime(CLOCK_MONOTONIC, &internal_conf->log_start_time) < 0)
+			return -1;
+	}
+
+	log_stream = fopencookie(internal_conf, "w+", console_log_func);
 	if (log_stream == NULL)
 		return -1;
 
